progressif

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin prōgressīvus, from prōgredior (perfect participial stem: prōgress-) +‎ -īvus. From progress(ion) +‎ -if.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.sif/ ~ /pʁɔ.ɡʁe.sif/

• Audio:

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Adjective

progressif (feminine progressive, masculine plural progressifs, feminine plural progressives)

1. progressive (gradually advancing)
2. (obsolete) progressive, progressionist (supporting social/technological progress)

   Synonym: progressiste

Derived terms

• assimilation progressive
• impôt progressif
• progressivement

 

Related terms

• progrès
• progresser
• progression

 

Further reading

• “progressif” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.
• “progressif”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Etymology

First known attestation circa 1372 by Jean Corbichon (also known as Corbechon). Borrowed from Latin prōgressīvus. See below.

Adjective

progressif m (feminine singular progressive, masculine plural progressifs, feminine plural progressives)

1. progressive (favoring or promoting progress)
   • c. 1372, Jean Corbichon, Le Livre de Propriété des Choses:

     Vertu alant, que les clercs appellent vertu progressive

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• Precise meaning is uncertain as the Corbichon citation is the only one in the Middle French period.
• Unlikely to be the etymon of French progressif because the next know attestation of progressif is in 1671, 300 years later. French progressif is a separate borrowing from Latin.

Related terms

• progrés
• progression

References

• progressif on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (progressif, supplement)